Make a Wish
by Gray Love
Summary: Recently heartbroken, Caleb Fontaine finds a bejeweled lamp. Little does he know that the lamp would change his life forever. Set in the world of Back to Nature/Friends of Mineral Town. {Pete/Jack x OC} (This may have an M rating later on)
1. The Lamp

Make a Wish

Author's Note: I was inspired by this story because I was thinking what would happen if there was a genie in the Harvest Moon universe. This is the story I came up with and happens in Mineral Town. I hope you will like it.

I do not own Harvest Moon. I only own my original character/s.

Chapter I: The Lamp

The sound of an ocean liner's whistle pierced the bustling atmosphere of the harbor, signalling the liner was about to depart. A large group of passengers stood on the deck to wave goodbye to the family and loved ones they left behind.

One of the passengers, sitting apart from the group, was a well-dressed elderly gentleman who preferred to stay away from the crowd. He was clutching a bundle wrapped in a cloth turned a dirty brown with age and lack of washing. He looked about him and, sensing that he was being watched, went down to his cabin below deck.

In the relative safety of his cabin, the man slowly unwrapped his precious bundle. Slowly, the layers of cloth fell away to reveal a golden lamp encrusted with precious gems. The small light that seeped in from the open window reflected on each gem, causing a prism of colors to appear before him. He held the lamp to him before wrapping the lamp once more. He would never allow anyone to have his lamp.

A knock at the door caused the man to look up. He placed the bundle on the table beside the porthole window then moved to open the door.

"Would you like me to ready your bed, sir?" It was Clara, the maid he had brought with him. "Very well, Clara." He moved to pick up his jacket which he had discarded when he had entered. "Do not touch anything, Clara. I will take a stroll on the deck."

"Yes sir." Clara bowed before she entered the room after her master had gone. She then set to tidying the room and readying the bed for his return, knowing that Mr. Hawthorne would wish to rest after his stroll.

A golden glint from the window momentarily blinded her. She put her arms in front of her to shield her eyes from the glare. When she was able to look at the cause of the glare, she had expected the sun had reflected off the window. Instead, she saw the bundle on the table. A portion of the cloth had come away to reveal a hint of something golden underneath.

With her curiosity piqued, Clara moved towards the bundle. She was about to reach for the package when she remembered her master's warning. She withdrew her hand and busied herself with tidying the rest of the room, her mind often wandered to what was the object hidden within the bundle. She did not notice the dark clouds that loomed outside the window as she left the room.

o0o0o0o0o

Rain flooded the deck of the ocean liner as strong winds and powerful waves crashed against all sides, causing the large ship to rock very violently like a small raft out at sea. The lamp too began to move about on the table it was still resting on. The strong wind blew the porthole open and close as it teetered towards the opening.

A cold wind blew through the open porthole, rousing Mr. Hawthorne. He muttered to himself on the incompetence of his maid when he looked at the opening and stared in shock as his precious lamp moved off of the table. "No" With a burst of adrenaline he had not felt in years, he lunged for the lamp, to no avail. He watched his precious treasure fall out of the porthole and into the murky, violent waters below.

The elderly man cried out in anger and anguish, a cry so loud it could be heard despite the storm. He would find his lamp. No matter what or how long it took, he would find it, he promised to himself.

o0o0o0o0o

The alarm went off loud and clear that morning. Caleb Fontaine reached out with one arm to push the button to turn it off. He missed it several times. The incessant ringing began to annoy him. With one strong push, he shoved the clock off of the bedside table. It landed on the floor with a loud crash that made the young farmer almost jump out of his bed. He sighed before he sat on the edge of the bed.

Before taking over on his grandfather's old farm, he had trained himself to be up before dawn. He usually went about his day with a smile on his face and a spring in his step. That morning though was different. He had just found out that the girl of his dreams, the beautiful Karen, was in love with someone else, and he was not Rick.

Karen had broken the news to him as gently as she could, hoping to not hurt his feelings too much. The news had shattered his world. He had big dreams that involved marrying Karen and raising a family with her. Those dreams were now fragments that could not be pieced together again.

With a heavy heart, he got out of bed and dragged his legs towards the bathroom. He tossed some clean clothes: a crisp white shirt and a pair of newly-washed overalls on the counter top before he stepped into the shower. The cold water did nothing to help him. He stepped out of the shower, dried himself with a fresh towel and dressed with less care than he had the day before.

He stepped out of the bathroom while trying to brush his teeth. The look on his face made anyone who would have seen him at that moment wonder if he was still half-asleep. He tossed the toothbrush onto the dining table and put on his blue cap before he left the house, his leather rucksack dangling from his shoulder.

o0o0o0o0o

The sight of his farm should have cheered him up but it did not even put a small smile on his face. A large, droopy-eared light brown dog bounded towards him. Fenrir always liked to greet him early in the morning by jumping on him and giving him some wet licks to the face. The sight of his grief-stricken master though made the large dog stop in his tracks just inches away and whimper at the young man's feet.

Caleb patted Fenrir's head in reassurance. His faithful companion knew when he was upset and tried to comfort him, which did not help. He looked like a robot as he fed his cows and chickens and tended to his large brown stallion, Sleipnir, who was anxious to be ridden. Caleb did not even have the heart to ride his horse.

Once he had finished all of his chores and placed all of his produce in the shipping bin, Caleb's feet moved of their own accord. He found himself leaving his farm and heading in the direction of the beach, passing Rick who waved him a hello which he did not return and Barley's ranch. He was not even sure why his feet were leading him to the beach as the sun rose up in the horizon.

o0o0o0o0o

Once Caleb's boots touched the soft sand of the beach, he walked along the shoreline until he came upon the large rock where he sat down and sighed. He was in no mood to visit any of the villagers, which he used to do every day. _"Maybe I should just move away, go back to the city_ ", he thought. He was leaning towards that idea when a glittering spot in the sand caught his attention.

Caleb expected it to be a broken bottle or a piece of glass that had been washed up on shore. He left it alone for a bit but the glitter kept drawing his attention, as if beckoning him. He sighed again before he stood up and walked towards the spot. He looked down to find it something golden under the sand.

He knelt down and dug around the spot until a spout popped out of the sand. He dug some more to uncover a golden lamp. Its jewels glittered in the sunlight. It looked the magic lamp in the book his mother used to read to him as a child: Aladdin's lamp. He laughed then, a humourless laugh. It was silly to believe in genies and magic. Well, he could not leave it there. He put it in his rucksack and made a point to see Harris later on and give him the lamp. He had no use for it after all.


	2. Do you believe in Magic?

Chapter II: Do you believe in Magic?

With the lamp placed safely in his rucksack, Caleb trudged back up the stairs leading to Rose Square. It was still too early to look for Harris so he chose to go back the way he had come, passing Barley and Rick again without acknowledging them. He reached his farm in much the same state as he had left it and was greeted by Fenrir. The large dog followed his master into the house.

Caleb looked about him. With the help of Gotz, the local carpenter, he had made his old grandfather's house a home. The house had been renovated and a new wing had been added to that became his current bedroom, with the adjoining bathroom. His bedroom opened out to the kitchen which was connected to the dining room. It was a house large enough for a growing family...

Caleb sighed then moved to sit at the table, placing his rucksack on the table, away from Fenrir, who had a habit of rummaging through his bag in hopes of finding treats. His mind drifted to memories: happy moment he had had with Karen. He had been sure she was the girl he had met long ago as a child. Unfortunately, unless he could somehow change her mind, she would most likely marry the man she was in love with.

oo0o0o0o0o

Little did Caleb know that, as he was going down memory lane, his usually faithful companion Fenrir was trying to reach for the strap of his rucksack, hoping to pull it down from its current spot so he could look for treats to eat inside the bag. After a few attempts, he was successful in grabbing the strap.

With a few powerful tugs, the bag fell off the table, scattering its contents every which way, including the lamp, which slid and collided with the table where the television now stood. The crash derailed Caleb's train of memories and caused him to look about. His grief momentarily turned to annoyance as he saw the mess his dog had made.

"Fenrir!" The young man cried out. He had stood from his spot and looked at the dog in displeasure. The large dog whimpered and looked up, trying his best to mimic the puppy dog eyed look he had used on his master as a puppy. He looked like he was truly sorry for causing the mess. With his current size though, it did not work as well as it had when he was smaller.

Caleb let out a sigh then mentally counted to ten, allowing his annoyance to cool down as he did. He bent down and picked up the scattered items and placed them back in the rucksack. He was only grateful that the rucksack was not torn in the process of Fenrir's tugging.

When he reached for the lamp, Caleb saw that dust had fallen on it, probably from being shaken off of the table. Gray spots dotted the golden surface.

Caleb went to the kitchen and took the cloth he usually used to wipe dishes. He sat down at the table again and began to gently wipe the dust off of the lamp. The dust flew to Fenrir, who sneezed.

As Caleb continued wiping, he then noticed there was something written on the lamp but he could not quite read it. Curious, he rubbed the cloth over the spot with the inscription. As the words became clearer, the lamp began to shake.

Shocked, he dropped it and it clattered to the floor. Fenrir hid under the dining table as the lamp began to dance about before purple smoke swirled out of the lamp's spout.

The smoke swirled and grew larger, taking on the form of a red-headed girl…or rather a red-headed caramel-skinned slender young woman with a golden coronet with a veil on her head.

She stretched out her arms like someone who had just woken up from a long sleep. The golden bangles at her wrists jangled as she did. She opened her eyes then and Caleb was awestruck.

She had the deepest blue eyes he had ever seen and her sweet smile then brightened them so that they shone like sapphires against her caramel skin. She glided towards him, her embroidered velvet slippered feet moving with grace, and it was then that he noticed what she was wearing.

Caleb's face turned a deep red, much like the tomatoes he had grown and harvested last summer. He had read about harem outfits and seen pictures of them before moving into the quaint little town but he had only seen a few people wear them at costume parties…and none of them could compare to how well her outfit suited her.

Her outfit was as purple as the smoke that came from her lamp. A purple translucent veil partially concealed her rosy red lips. Gold coins dangled from her halter-top, exposing her slender midriff.

A blue sapphire belly button ring caught his attention before he looked away, his face still red. He had been raised better than to stare at a woman.

He did not even notice that Fenrir, who was wary of strangers, did not even bark in this one's presence.

"A thousand pardons but would you please tell me where I am? I do not think I am where I used to be." Her soft accented voice was melodious to his ears. Her accent was foreign but sounded exotic. He could not quite place where she came from based on her accent.

Caleb shook his head. "Well…you are in my house." He finally answered, realizing that there was a stranger in his house, a stranger who had popped out of the lamp of all things. "Who are you?" It was his turn to ask questions.

"Oh, pardon me yet again. I am the genie of the lamp." It was then that the realization hit her. "You must be my master." She bowed then. "Pardon me, Master."

"Please call me Caleb." The thought of anyone in town hearing her call him Master made him turn red with embarrassment. Oh, what would they think of him if they did?!

No one would believe she was a genie. He still did not quite believe in them himself but her sudden appearance did remind him of the genie from Aladdin. "My name is Caleb." He added to clarify that he really wished that she would not call him master.

"Caleb." She said softly, as if testing his name for the first time. She had never been allowed to call her master by name before. "My name is Asha." She bowed again then straightened herself.

He indicated the chair beside his and she sat down as gracefully as she had moved towards him. "If you are a genie, wouldn't that mean you could grant me wishes?"

She looked at him with those wondrous blue eyes and smiled. "Yes, three wishes, Caleb."

Three wishes, well my first wish would be to make Karen change her mind, he thought. "So you can grant any three wishes I want?"

"There are a few wishes I cannot grant." Her words made Caleb wonder what they were.

"Such as?" He hoped she would explain but something, perhaps his instincts, told him he would not like them if he found out.

"Well, for one, I cannot end someone's life or purposely harm anyone." Caleb sighed. He had momentarily been nursing the idea that he would like the man Karen loved to disappear from her life though he personally had not wanted to end it.

"Second, I cannot make anyone fall in love with another." Strike two on the wishes, he thought. He would have wanted Karen to at least feel something for him. He wanted her to think of him as someone who could be more than a friend.

"And lastly, I am forbidden to bring people back from the dead. It is not a pleasant sight to see." The last restriction made Caleb think. Seeing his grandfather again would have been nice but he could understand why she could not do that. He would have probably come back as a zombie and that was not something Caleb would wish for.

"So, other than those three restrictions, you can grant any wish I ask?" She nodded once, her face serene. He had accepted the rules without complaint, she noticed. He was different in a way from her previous masters who had not been pleased to find there were restrictions.

"What would be your first wish then, Caleb?" She asked softly.

Caleb looked thoughtful. He knew he would not waste any wishes but he was still not quite certain he believed she was a genie. His first wish would have to be one where he could test her power and be proof enough for him to believe that she was a real genie.


End file.
